Whether it's an institute put on by your own district, or an expert is coming to town, or if you'll be traveling many miles to take part, I hope that you are as excited about attending your institutes as I am about teaching them.
Force Field for Good and a Giveaway!
Learn about Barry Lane's newest book, Force Field for Good and enter for the giveaway!
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A Year of “Slice of Life” in the classroom.
It’s finally summer in most school districts, and every teacher I know seems to have closed the classroom door to daily school life...and opened another to summer relaxation, reading, and PD (I am thinking of all my lucky friends at All Write ‘14 right now, and those who will be at Boothbay with me on… Continue reading A Year of “Slice of Life” in the classroom.
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A Picture Book That Pushes the Growth Mindset
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires will help you to initiate a conversation with about the importance of possessing a growth mindset. It's also a fantastic mentor text for writing workshop!
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PD at a Glance
Carl Anderson suggests three lenses to look through when conferring with a student.
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Ending a Year of Teaching Writing with a Group Reflection
One thing I love so much about being an educator is the cyclical nature of the school year. The beginning of the year brings promise, renewed energy, and a certain mania. The middle of the year brings familiarity, routine, and structure. The end of the year brings a slower pace, stepping back, reflection. There is… Continue reading Ending a Year of Teaching Writing with a Group Reflection
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Slice of Life Tuesday
"With every story, I began to form myself from the inside out." ~Dani Shapiro, Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life I love this quote from Dani Shapiro. Each Tuesday, we are practicing the art of narrative writing. We are sharing our stories with one another. We are forming a community of writers.… Continue reading Slice of Life Tuesday
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How To Read A Unit of Study
As the school year comes to a close, many of the schools I work with are launching into a week or so of in-service, summer institutes, and other professional development. It's "curriculum season" in many places around the country. For many writing teachers, that means diving into the Units of Study for Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing by Lucy… Continue reading How To Read A Unit of Study
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ALL WRITE!!! Daring Greatly
On Wednesday my students, for two years, will be getting on their bus and riding home after our final day together. It will be bittersweet as I give them my last hug as their teacher. From there I will gather my bag, a few belongings and leave my classroom. I will pack it up… Continue reading ALL WRITE!!! Daring Greatly
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TWT post: Google docs + writing workshop = happy writing teacher (and happy writing students)
When I was asked to pilot Google docs in the last month of our school year, I was enthusiastic... but also a bit blasé. It seemed like a wonderful “new thing”, and although I am all for trying out new things in my classroom, I also knew that I had developed and fine tuned a… Continue reading TWT post: Google docs + writing workshop = happy writing teacher (and happy writing students)
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Five on Friday + Book Giveaways
Want to obtain some high quality professional development at no cost to you? Need some books to sink your teeth into this summer? Feel like kicking back and just enjoying some time off? If you answered "yes," to one of these questions, then read on!
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Office Work
I love the idea of spending the first several days of school learning how to be a writer. By studying other writers’ processes, we can begin to demystify the act of writing.
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 